Bat Removal & Control Nassau County Bats in the Attic

Bats Nassau County, Long Island, New York

There are in excess of 1200 species of bats that account for roughly twenty percent of all classified mammal species. Bats are the only mammals with the ability to fly. Germans allude to bats as flying mice, but bats are not winged rodents. Bat embryos develop inside female bats and they nurse their pups with milk. Newborn bat pups have milk teeth and their permanent adult teeth surface later on. Like humans, bats have lungs and a four-chambered heart. Bats have the largest heart and lung size of all mammals, which is related to the high energetic cost of flight. Contrary to prevailing belief, bats are not blind. Bats have small poorly developed eyes and poor visual acuity. Bats use echolocation to discern their surroundings in total darkness. Bats produce ultrasonic sounds ranging in frequency from 20 to 200 kilohertz. In terms of pitch, bats emit echolocation pulses with both constant frequencies and varying frequencies that are frequently modulated. The majority of bats emit a complicated sequence of sounds, combining constant frequency and varying frequency components. Even though low-frequency sound travels further than high-frequency sound, sounds at higher frequencies supply the bats with more detailed information--such as size, range, position, speed and direction of a prey's flight. Consequently, high-frequency sounds are used more often. The ears and brain cells in bats are specially tuned to the frequencies of the sounds they produce and the echoes that result. The external structure of bats' ears also plays a key role in receiving echoes. The large variation in sizes, shapes, folds, and wrinkles are thought to assist in the reception and funneling of echoes and sounds emitted from prey. True bats, also known as Microbats make use of magnetoreception in that they have a high sensitivity to the Earth’s magnetic field and are able to ascertain north from south. Anatomically, bats possess the same bones in their forelimbs as human beings have in their arms and hands.

During flight, a bats heart rate can be as high as one thousand beats per minute and their body temperature can reach almost one hundred six degrees Fahrenheit. During hibernation, the bat's resting heart rate will drop from a resting average of two hundred to three hundred beats per minute to about twenty-five beats per minute. The hibernating bat's body temperature can drop as low as thirty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. There are nine species of bats that are native to New York State and all are insectivorous Nassau County exterminators. Bats are the principal predators of flying nocturnal insects, some devouring as much as their own body weight in flying insects in a single night. In Nassau County, New York, bats are one of the most feared and most misunderstood animals. In spite of the fact that these nocturnal critters are a rabies vector animal, bats play a key role in pest control and decrease the need to use insecticides. A decrease in the use of pesticides curtails water and soil contamination. Consuming one thousand mosquitoes per hour, bats are a welcome exterminator in Nassau County, Long Island. In an effort to combat the increasing mosquito population, the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau Couty, Long Island has placed bat boxes throughout its parks, for bats to live in. Bat boxes are affixed to a tree or a pole 15 feet above the ground and should be facing south. Bat boxes can be purchased at Long Island nurseries and the smallest bat boxes, measuring sixteen inches long, 11.5 inches wide and 2.5 inches deep will provide shelter for a dozen bats. Town of North Hempstead officials want to limit the use of pesticides and utilize bats for mosquito control. Bats are a much more cost-effective and healthier option than applying pesticides. Mosquitoes carry and transmit the West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, and the Zika Virus. The West Nile Virus has resulted in 1,100 deaths in the United States, since its arrival in 1999. Approximately five hundred New York State residents have been afflicted with the virus since 2000, resulting in thirty-seven deaths in New York. Encephalitis may result in permanent neurological impairment and potentially death. The Zika Virus can result in birth defects such as Microcephaly and is linked to Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Bats In The Attic Nassau County, Long Island, New York

The Little Brown Bat and the Big Brown Bat are the most commonly encountered bats by Nassau County, Long Island residents. The Little Brown Bat and Big Brown Bat are referred to as house bats, because these cave bats find their way into Nassau County homes and roost in attics and chimneys. The Big Brown Bats have a body length of 4 to 5 inches, which is more than twice the size of the Little Brown Bat. The Big Brown Bat has a wider nose compared to that of the Little Brown Bat. The Big Brown Bat has long and silky fur that is chocolate brown in color. The Little Brown Bat's fur is uniformly dark brown in color and glossy on the back with slightly grayish fur underneath. Big Brown Bats have thirty-two adult teeth and Little Brown Bats have thirty-eight adult teeth. The Big Brown Bat's ears are black, short and have rounded tips whereas Little Brown Bats, which are referred to as mouse-eared bats, have short, blunt-tipped tragus in their ears. Female bats will form nursery roosts in the attics of Nassau County, Long Island residences, with several female bats giving birth in the same area. The average life expectancy of these bats is 6.5 years, but they can reach more than twenty years of age. Giving birth to one pup in June, or early July bats are one of the slowest reproducing mammals. Newborn bat pups are dependent on their mother for nourishment. Little Brown Bat pups can fly at approximately three weeks of age, after which they feed on both their mother's milk and insects. The Little Brown Bat is weaned from its mothers milk when it is about twenty-six days old. The pups of the Big Brown Bats are able to fly at about four to six weeks of age. Once weaned, the Big Brown Bat pups will leave the attic in search of beetles for nourishment. Other bat insect prey would include wasps, flying ants, flies, and mosquitoes.

Bat Diseases Nassau County, Long Island, New York

When it comes to hosting viruses that can be transferred to other species; so-called "zoonotic" viruses' bats are in a class of their own. Bats are reservoirs for more than sixty viruses that can infect humans, and host more viruses per species than even rodents do. They have been shown to be hosts to a number of harmful infections, including pathogens that can cause severe human diseases such as rabies and viruses related to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Furthermore, research suggests bats may be the original hosts of nasty viruses such as Ebola and Nipah, which causes deadly brain fevers in humans. Most pathogens don't pose a danger to bats and can consequently survive for a long time in the host without killing it. Bats have a long life expectancy making them an excellent reservoir for pathogens and giving them plenty of time to transmit them to other species. Bats that are infected with viruses can directly or through intermediate hosts spread the viruses to humans. Human to human transmission can then result in an epidemic.

Bat Removal Nassau County, Long Island, New York

Bat Inspection - This is the initial step in that Nassau County bat removal process. A bat may enter a Nassau County, Long Island dwelling at night through an open window, door, or skylight. A bat could also come down a chimney, or enter through a window air conditioner and end up inside your Long Island home. Bats roosting in the attic may fall down a wall void and end up in your living space. It is not difficult for bats to find their way into your residence, or business. In fact, even an opening as small as 1/4 could serve as a port of entry into your residence. If you have bats in the attic of your Nassau County, Long Island home, bat excrement can usually be found around the entry points. If our Nassau County Wildlife Control experts believe that there is an infestation of bats in your attic, we will inspect your Long Island residence at sunset and observe the bats exiting. Inspecting your home at sunset will allow us to identify the bat's entry points into your Nassau County, Long Island residence.

Bat Feces (Bat Guano) - They are high in potassium nitrate (KNO3) and can be used as fertilizer. Traditionally, potassium nitrate is known as saltpeter. The potassium nitrate can also be extracted for use in gunpowder and explosives, and bat guano was an important resource for that purpose during the American Civil War. However, decomposing bat droppings in attics, wall spaces, and other voids produces a terrible odor. Bat feces attracts cockroaches and a Nassau County pest control professional is needed to prevent your dwelling from becoming infested with roaches. Bat excrement in an attic may provide a growth medium for a fungus responsible for the lung disease, Histoplasmosis in humans. Bat dropping accumulations can pile up quickly and may fill spaces between walls, floors, and ceilings. Nassau County Wildlife Control offers attic cleanup services.

Bat Repellents - There are several bat repellent products that can be purchased on the internet and at hardware stores that claim to get rid of bats, but I have not found one that has proven to be effective in getting bats out of an attic. Bat Magic sold by Ace Hardware for $8.99 claims to repel bats using, All Natural ingredients. This product sounds like a cheap quick fix solution to a problem with bats in the attic. The active ingredients in Bat Magic are peppermint and spearmint oils. Products containing the same active ingredients are also advertised as ant repellents. Where is the magic in the bat repellent, Bat Magic? The only thing that will disappear, will be the money that you spend on this so-called bat repellent. Peppermint and spearmint oils do not repel bats or ants. In the picture shown, an arrow points to a package of Bat Magic hanging from the wall. Two Big Brown bats are comfortably roosting within a few feet of this so-called bat repellent. Bright lights, ammonia, mothballs, and bat repellent products containing naphthalene don't get bats out of an attic and only serve to complicate the removal of bats from Nassau County homes and businesses. Ultrasonic sound producing devices have not been demonstrated to be effective in getting bats out of an attic either. Unsubstantiated claims made by manufacturers of ultrasonic sound making devices have been challenged by testing labs and the US Federal Trade Commission. FTC Warns Manufacturers & Retailers of Ultrasonic Pest Control Devices.

Bat Exclusion - This is a proven and effective method of removing a colony of bats from an attic. Nassau County Wildlife Control specializes in the humane removal of bats from the attics of Nassau County, Long Island homes and businesses. Bat removal from an attic is carried out in the Fall when there are no young flightless baby bats in the attic. Getting a colony of bats out of an attic necessitates the installation of bat exclusion devices over their primary exit points. The bat exclusion devices are one-way doors that will allow the bats to exit your Nassau County, Long Island residence, but not re-enter it. The Long Island bat removal attic exclusion process generally takes three days to complete. At the conclusion of the attic bat removal, the exclusion devices will be removed and the openings will be sealed, making your Nassau County, Long Island home or business bat-proof.